Responding to Regional Needs

• Facing shifting economic conditions, Poznan University of Economics and Business anchors export-driven companies across Poland’s Wielkopolska region with practical, forward-looking support.
• From guest lectures to applied research, business schools are proving that academic excellence and real-world impact can, and should, go hand in hand.
• By turning dissertations into real solutions for regional companies, business schools prepare students to lead with both academic insight and market-ready skills.

Transcript

Barbara Jankowska: [00:12] When we talk about broadening the impact of business school today, I think it’s very much about staying closely connected to the economy and society around us.

[00:26] In the past, the impact was mainly focused on teaching students and doing research. But today is really much more about how we can support the growth of companies and the regional economies where we are located.

[00:48] My university, Poznan University of Economics and Business, operates in the Wielkopolska region. This is the western part of Poland, with a very strong entrepreneurial spirit.

[01:03] This is a region dominated by small- and medium-sized companies. Those are entities that are very much focused on exporting. There is a significant role for my university in supporting companies’ expansion within Poland and, of course, outside it.

The added value of this difficult situation is that [b-schools] can create and recognize new educational needs.

[01:27] The geopolitical shifts bring new uncertainty. The uncertainty works, unfortunately, in the Polish and European contexts.

[01:41] But the added value of this difficult situation is that we can create and recognize new educational needs. We are all aware that companies face different risks. They have to cope with supply chain, energy, and security risks and face challenges in their international cooperation.

[02:12] In the Wielkopolska region, where my university is located, we have companies that are closely linked to the European economy. They are highly interdependent with their European business partners due to export activities. So, those risks are really very tangible for them.

[02:35] This is a huge task for my university to prepare great leaders who can support the companies. We try to teach our students how to manage crises and risk situations, adapt to difficult conditions, and make responsible decisions.

A huge task for my university [is] to prepare great leaders who can support the companies.

[03:00] That all means that we need to focus on practical education and at the same time keep high academic quality. This is a challenge for universities nowadays: how to be very close to business and public institutions, and at the same time provide very high academic standards.

[03:25] At Poznan University of Economics and Business, we run many initiatives that are focused on the development of stable and long-term relationships with companies located around us. Everything works under the umbrella of a business hub.

[03:45] Within that business hub, we run, for example, a partner’s club with 60 companies that cooperate with us very closely. Representatives from those companies visit our students for guest lectures, and we conduct applied research to meet their needs.

[04:11] Thanks to our cooperation with companies, we can organize company visits, which offer our students a good opportunity to see firsthand how the companies operate and the challenges they face.

Advantages are on both sides: our employees are involved, and business and regional institutions can get solutions and support from the university.

[04:30] Within that business hub, we run a foundation, and the foundation focuses on charity projects. But the foundation also regularly organizes a competition for our students writing their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral dissertations.

[04:50] Within those dissertations, the students address real business problems and provide solutions for companies. And then, they get special rewards and prizes from the business sector for that.

[05:08] Within the business hub, we run a special goal company. This entity is dedicated to commercializing the results of our research. It is a real company operating in a market.

[05:27] The main stakeholder is my university, but the added value for us is that we can transfer our knowledge and ideas to the business sector more smoothly. Of course, the company also provides consulting services.

[05:46] To do this, we need professors, and the advantages are on both sides: our employees are involved, and business and regional institutions can get solutions and support from the university.